Appliance for stimulating the process of lactation



Feb. 20, 1951 G. H. GASCOIGNE 2,542,505

APPLIANCE FOR STIMULATING THE PROCESS OF LACTATION' Filed Oct. 6, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l Feb. 20, 1951 G. H. GASCOIGNE 2,542,505

APPLIANCE FOR STIMULATING THE PROCESS OF LACTATION Filed Oct. 6, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 /a F/G. 3. 3

l I 8 T i i 231 N 40 i /3 H F/G. 4 3O 32 5 2 4 4/ 49 52 4e 29 22 /4 /6 18 Inventor Attorneys Patented Feb. 20, 1951 ABPLIANGE FOB 'STIMULATIN HE PROCESS OF LACTATION Geor e Harry -Gasc i Wokingham, England, assigpor to Qascoignes (Reading) Ltd Berk: shire, England, a British company AppIieationOctober-G, 1949, Serial 'No. 119,851

In Great Britain October 8, 1948 :4 Claims- This invention relates an appliance adapted for stimulating the process of lactation. nar= ticularly in the case of women, and is mainly m tended for use in abnormal maternity cas s until normal conditions are brought about.

It is an object of this invention to provide a lactation stimulating appliance constructed :in such a manner as to utilize pneumaticallyeprm duced pulsations to simulate the natural actions produced by the facial movements and mouth suction :of a suckling.

Another object of the invention is to provide such an appliance which comprises a hollowed body having flexible surfaces adapted to move as the result of timed pneumatic pulsations within the body so as to simulate, when said flexible surfaces are applied to the mammary organ, the natural actions produced by-the facial movements and mouth suction of asuckling.

In a preferred arrangement the appliance has a flexible wall which is adapted to be 'held in contact with the surface of the breast surrounding the nipple and to besubjected periodically to pneumatic pressure, soas to apply intermittent mechanical pressure to the breast by means of the flexible wall. This flexible wall surrounds and preferably is part of an expansible tubular liner in oneend of which the nipple of the breast is receivable, where it is subjected to an intermittent squeezing action applied through the expansible liner. At the same time suction is ap-- plied to the inside of the liner, but is cutoff during the period the liner is squeezed from without. The intermittent pressure applied through the flexible wall alternates with that applied through the liner and .such alternating pneumatic pulsations are convenientiy produced by suitably connecting the appliance to a "known form of pulsator, such as employed on cow'milk i s machines.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompany-- il'lg drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a pictorial view of the appliance ready foruse,

Figure 2 is a diagram showing "how the appliance can be connected to a vacuum pump and a pulsator for producing in the appliance the required pneumatic pulsations,

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the appliance,

Figure 4 is a sectional plan on line IVIV of Fi ure .3, and

Figure 5 is a vertical section -;on'f1l;in'e of Figure 3.

In the practical embodiment of the invention.

illustrated in the drawings the appliance comprises a rigid main .shell .I :made of metal or other suitable material and consisting of a substantially disc-like head 2 having a recess 3 in the front face 4 thereof and of a hollow conical body 5 which extends out from the rear face 6 of the head 2, the'wide end 7 of the conical interior of the body 5 opening into the floor 8 of the recess 3 in the head 2. The opening 9 to the nter or of the b dy 5 s c v red by a canke hub member 10 which is preferably of oval shape (see Fig. 5) with a centrally disposed elongated aperture 4H he crown 12 th r f, the rim 13 of the hu ap ture l eing vrounded and incurled. The hub member Iii is preferably in the form of a moulding made of rubber havin a moderat ree of y ldin or compressi lity, and constitutes a dividing wall between the iner and outer pulse chambers A, B respectively.

On opposite sides of the conical body 5 two bosses l4. l5 are provided and these are drilled to form through passages I6, I 1 which extend one into the space within the head recess 3 around the hub l0, that is, the outer pulse chamber B, and the other into the interior of the conical body. 5, which together with the interior of the hub l0 constitutes the inner pulse chamber A.

Therecessed face 4 of the head 2 is covered by a flexible diaphragm IB of rubber or other suitable material which extends over the opening of the head recess 3 around the hub l0, and constitutes the flexible wall previously referred to. Extending through the centre of the conical body 5 and of the hub I0 is a rubber tubular liner l9, that end portion 20 of the liner l9 which lies within the interior of the hub It being flared so that the rim 2! of the wide part of this flared end 20 of the liner l9 extends to the rim 13 of the elongated aperture II in the crown l2 of the hub ID. The rubber liner H3, or at least the flared end part 20 thereof, is preferably made in one piece with the rubber diaphragm l8 which constitutes the flexible wall of the recessed head 2. The rear end 22 of the liner l9 extends through an opening 23 in the small end of the conical body 5 and has an outcurled bead 24 adapted to engage over a raised ridge 25 surrounding said opening 23 so as to anchor the rear end 22 of the liner 19 in position. The outer margin 26 of the diaphragm I8 is wrapped over the peripheral edge 2! of the disc-like head 2 and is secured in position by an encircling retaining clip 28, a rubber band or the like.

The shell I, with its hub I 0 and combined liner I9 and diaphragmic end wall I8, is detachably carried as a unit by a rigid mounting block 29 having two through holes 30, 3| arranged so as to align with the two through passages l5, l1 respectively in the two bosses l4, l5. 1

The opposite ends of each of two tubular connectors '32, 33 are inserted as push-fits each into the corresponding hole 353 or (it in the mounting block 29 and into the aligned passage I6 5 in the shell I, the two connectors 32, 33 serving to assemble the shell I to the mounting block 29. When thus assembled the rear end 22 of the tubular liner [9 aligns with one limb of a right-angular passage 34 in the mounting block, the other limb of said passage 34 receiving one end of a tube 35 which extends through a burn; or plug 36 adapted for closing the mouth of a glass bottle 3'! or other container. The bung or plug 36 carries a second tube 38 which connects with a second right-angular passage 39 in the mounting block 29, so that the interior of the bottle 3'! is thus constituted as a by-pass for fluid proceeding from the liner l9 to the outlet of the second right-angular passage 39 in the mounting block 29.

To facilitate speedy connection of the interior of the liner l9 (via the bung tubes 35, 36 and bottle 3'!) and the two through passages 16, ll in the shell I with three pipe-lines 40, 4|, 42 leading to a pneumatic pulsator 43 (see Fig. 2), the pipe-lines 40, 4!, 42 are attached to a common socket member 44 which is provided with projecting nozzles 45, 46, 41' adapted to be plugged into appropriate inlet openings of the passage 29 and holes 30, 3| respectively in the mounting block 29. The nozzles 45, 46, 41 are conveniently constituted by the ends of rigid tubes 48, 49, 59 respectively passing through three holes 5|, 52, 53 in socket 44, the pipe-lines 40, 4|, 42 being attached to the projecting rear ends of said tubes 48, 49 and 5B. The pipe-line 49 which leads, via the bung tubes 35, 3B and bottle 31 to the liner [9 is preferably connected, by pipe 45 (as shown in Fig. 2), to a receptacle 54 which acts as a vacuum reserve tank and is connected by another pipe-line 55 to a suitable motor driven vacuum pump 58. The vacuum pipe-line 4i] and the two pulse pipe-lines 4|, 42 are conveniently led to a suitable adaptor 56 carried by the receptacle 54, a vacuum connection and two pulse connections generally indicated by reference 51 leading to the pulsator 43.

The appliance as above-described is connected to the vacuum pump 56 and the pulsator 43 in such a manner that pneumatic pulses are transmitted alternately to the outer pulse chamber B, that is the one constituted by the diaphragmcovered space of the head recess 3, around the hub Ill and to the inner pulse chamber A, that is, the one constituted by the space with said hub l and the interior of the conical body around the rubber liner 19. The appliance is used by being held, for example, by the patient grasping the bottle 31, so that the flexible diaphragmic'wall l8 of the head 2 is in contact with the breast, with the nipple within the flared end 2| of the liner 2!). The long axis of the elongated aperture II in the oval hub I9 is preferably'disposed substantially vertical when the appliance is in use. The alternate pulsations applied through the movable walls of the two pulse chambers A, B and the suction eiTect applied by reason of connecting the interior of the liner l9 indirectly to the vacuum pump 56 combine to simulate the pressure and suction applied naturally by a suckling infant. The milk drawn off through the liner i9 as the result of this stimulation is collected in the bottle 37.

What I claim is:

1. An appliance for stimulating the process of lactation comprising a hollow body divided internally to form separate inner and outer concentric chambers, the outer chamber having a flexible wall adapted to contact the surface of the breast surrounding'the" nipple thereof and the inner chamber having a flexible wall adapted for surrounding the nipple, provision being made for producing within said chambers by pneumatic pulsations synchronised movements of the flexible walls of said chambers, which are such as to simulate the natural actions produced by the facial movements and mouth suction of a suckling infant.

2. An appliance for stimulating the process of lactation, comprising a body in the form of a disc-like head having a recess in one side thereof and a hollow portion extending from the opposite side thereof; an enclosing wall member within said head recess dividing said recess into inner and outer spaces, said hollow portion of the body communicating with the inner space within the wall member; a diaphragm constituting a flexible wall covering said outer space; a flexible tube extending from the rim of said enclosing wall member through said inner space and the hollow portion of the body; a milk receptacle communicating with the interior of the flexible tube and adapted for connection with a source of vacuum, and hollow connections adapted to place said inner and outer spaces into communication with mechanical means for producing timed pneumatic pulsations.

3. An appliance for stimulating the process of lactation, comprising a hollow body having a recess in one side thereof, a gum-like ring of oval shape and made of a yieldable material in imitation of the gums of an infant, said gum-like ring being positioned within the recess of said hollow body to partition it internally to form two open-sided substantially concentric chambers both opening in the same direction, a flexible diaphragm constituting a wall covering the open sides of said two concentric chambers and passing over the rim of said gum-like partitioning ring, and said flexible diaphragm being adapted for contacting the surface of the breast and having a central nipple-receiving portion constituting a third chamber, a milk receptacle in communication with said third chamber, and hollow connections adapted for placing said two concentric chambers directly and said third chamber indirectly via said milk receptacle into communication with an external source of pneumatic suction and with mechanical means for producing timed pneumatic pulsations, to pro-- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Fowler Nov. 16, 1909 Num er 

